Coal chute



April 21, 1925.

1,534,023 H. E. BETTON GOAL CHUTE Filed April 1'7, 1924 Patented Apr. 21, 1925.

indent? HAROLD E. BETTON, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

COAL CHUTE.

Application filed April 17, 1924. Serial No. 707,306.

To* all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HAROLD E. BETTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements'in Coal Chutes, of which the following is al specification.

The invention tobe hereinafter described relates to apparatus for piling coal and other material.

. It is customary to store coal in pockets, bins, and on the ground in large piles, and sometimes these piles are or 40 feet high, In building up these piles, the coal is conducted to an elevated level and if allowed to drop therefrom to the ground or door on which the piles are to be placed, the distance is so great, vand especially in starting the piles, that'the coal becomes broken to a llarge extent,thereby reducingits market value.

In attempting to prevent breaking of the coal, it has been conducted from the elevated level toward the floor by chutes of difi'erentfkinds, and some of these have been designed with the Vobject of delivering the coal with a short'drop to-prevent the breaky age of the coal referred to. However, so far as I am aware, none of these chutes has been satisfactory for the purpose.

The aim and purpose of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a chute which will build upthe pile by' delivering the coal at progressive intervals along the length of the chute, the construction being such that the coal will have a substantially uniform short fall. In carrying the invention into practical effect, in the present instance, the chute is provided with al series of gates or hinged sections which are automatically, progressively opened by rise or backing up of the coal in the chute. The gates are opened by the direct engagement of the coal therewith, thereby eliminating the necessity of complexv releasing devices lwhich are unreliable in their operation.

, The character of the invention may be best understood by reference to the following description of one good form thereof shown in 'the accompanying drawings, wherein: A

, Figure lisa vertical longitudinal section through a chute embodying the invention taken on line 1-1 ofFig'. 2, and showin@ a coal pile in process of being built up andD Fig. 2 is a plan of the chutei A `Referringtol the drawings', the' chute .from the plates,

shown therein as one good form of the invention, comprises a suitable support, in the present instance, in the form of a pair of side plates 1 of steel or other suitable material, said plates being spaced and connected at intervals by bridge bars 3. These plates are of suiiicient length to extend from the coal receiving level 5 down to the floor 7 The lower end of the chute may rest upon the iioor, and the upper end thereof may be provided with any suitable support not shown. y

The chute, in the present instance of the invention, has a series of troughs or sections including ixed sections 9 and movable sections 11 desirably in alternating relation. These troughs or sections maybe formed of steel or other suitable material.

lllhe fixed troughs comprise floors 13 which may extend between the plates 1, and have flanges 15 riveted or otherwise secured to said plates. Rising from the floors 13 are sides 17, in the present instance, converging downward and spaced aI substantial distance The convergence of the sides tends to retard the flow of the coal.

The movable troughs ou' gates comprise Hoo-rs 19 and sides 21, in the present instance, substantially parallel to the plates and having their lower ends set in somewhat from the vertical planes of the sides 17 of the iixed troughs, thereby eii'ectively .to deliver the coal from the movable to the iixed sections. The sides 21 of the movable sections are spaced a sufficient distance from the plates 1, so that any coal coming between the sides and the plates vcannot jam between them and interfere with free move-y ments of the movable troughs.

The movable troughs may be tiltably mounted, and in the present instance, have hinges in the form of vstraps 23 secured to the floors 19, and receiving through rods 29 which are secured t0 the plates 1. These hinges are located intermediate the ends of the movable sections, and are offset downward somewhat away from the centers of gravity of the sections, so that the tendency of the sections will be to gravitate to clo'sed positions. V

Suitable means may be provided to limit the tilting movements of the sections. To accomplish this, in the present instance, stop pins 81 are mounted on the plates 1, and extend inward a sufficient distance to be engaged by floors of the movable sections. The

upon. the coal will be discha vtilt-able trough, it Vwill roch the second tiltahle trough. the trough, as shown in Fig. l.

VYvent material breakage ot the coal.

opening movements of the tiltable sections may be limited by engagement of the upper edges of the sides of the sections with the bridge bars 3 referred to, said bridge bars being appropriately located at intervals along the-length of the side plates for this purpose. y

At the upper end of the chut-e is a fixed section 33V longerthan the fixed sections above described.v and having sides 35v which diverge outward to Vthe upper ends ofthe plates 1.V ln'the floor oi the upper iiXed section 33, is an opening 37 provided with a. pair ot doors 39 connected to the ioor of the upper section by hinges lll, said doors being secured in closedposition by a lock rod i3 entered through eyes in straps 45 secured to the floor ot the upper'tixed section. Y

In the use ot the chute.,it placed in the desired location. and preferably at an angle of about 30. The coal 'introduced to the upper end of the chute will slide down along the floors oft the tired and moval'ile sections7 and will discharge andjtorm a pile at the lower end oll the chute. The. coal will accumulate and will rise or bacli: up into the chute until a suliicient anuiunt on the lowerend portion oit the lowest nmvable trough, to tilt the same to open position. .Theret .d from the lined trough whieoA is directly above the lowest movable trough. The coal will continue to vtlow therefrom, and will build up the pile beneath the chute. llhen the coal reaches the under surface ot' the floor ot' the` lowest the same almost hack to its closed position. Y

rlhe coal will then hack up inthe chute until the coal reaches the lower portion ot This will tilt coal will be disch:r rged trom the lixed trough which is dircctlvabore the trough last tilted.

rl`he coal will continue to back up in the troughs :is the height ot the pile increases,

andthe n'iovable troughs will be progressively opened and elosednsdescribed until the top of the pile approaches the upper iixed section Thereupon. the doors 3 9 may be opened. and the coal may tlow through the opening 37, thereby to complete discharge of coal to the pile.Y e Y The construction issuch that the coal is discharged trom the chute at progressive points up. along the length thereof, and the drop of the coal from the chute to the pile is always a distance suiiiciently short'to pre- The iow of the coal in the chute is retarded by the. converging sides of the iixed troughs.`

Under some conditions the side plates l may belmade somewhat higher than those shown, and( a roof may be mounted on said sides to close in the chute.

and then theA `floors will be flush with the floors of the tired troughs and in readiness again to conduct coal tobuild upthe pile.

It will be noted that when the tiltable troughs are. in closed positions, their centers oi' gravity are atA the right ottheir hinges and consequentlyl they tend to remain in closed positions automatically. `lVhen suiit kcient coal backs up and accumulates on the lower ends ot the tiltable troughs they will rock to open positions in which they are limited by engagement with the bridge bars 3 as shown in Fig.` 1. `In the course of this movement the centers ot y gravity of the troughs will shift from the right to the left of their hinges` and consequently they tend to remain in open `positions aiitomatically. They remain open until the coal pile rises to the under lsides of the troughs and rocks Vthe same toward closed positions as desribed; i

lt' large lumps oit coal should liecon'le clogged between the converged sides ol' a fixed trough above any tiltable trough. the coal will back up in the clogged trough and accumulate on the lower end of the til-table trough next above the clogged trough, thereby causing the tiltable trough to open and start acoalA pile in advance of thelower end ot' the chute. llhen the pilerises to; and

Ycloses the.V trough thus opened, the coalfwill flow down toy the cloggedv trough and the impact may be suliieient to clear the clog-ged trough. ltso a coal pile willi thereafter be built up nearer the lower end of the chute. It is notprobable thatfany of the fixed troughs will be so` clogged with coal as to require n'ianual clearing.

Y The chute' is broken away tor coinenience oi.l illustration., it being understood that the length ofthe chute may be varied according to conditions as required.v V

In order that the coal: may directed toward the centerof the bin or pocket, a chute is located' along each` wall ofthe pocket so that the coalvpiles. inwardly from the wall as each chute` is used building` up in the central space.

YVhere the depth ofthe pocket istoo great to permit etlicient delivery with a chute set at the ,angle illustrated, then the usual' expedient of providing two chutes, the lower end otono delivering to the upper end of the other, maybe employed. It' may happen that a single chute can be accommodatedto a deeper pocket by setting it ata greater angle of inclina-tion than is illustrated; and this may be done with satisfactory results within a certain range of angles. liilhenever the angle oi inclination ot the chute is increased, then the rod '29 on which the tiltable sections 19 pivot must -be moved torwardly to shift the center oi gravity and provide for the sections closing automatically as hereinbeo-re described. ir'ccordingly.

. each side wall l oi the chute. is provided with a series oit slots 47 within opposite pairs oi which a rod 29 may be moved longitudinally ot the chute, the traps 23 iirst being discon nected Yfrom the sections and then bolted up again after the proper new position oi' Vthe rod has been determined. The rods 29 are held in anyrequired position in the slots l? by nuts 49 on the ends thereof. The sections 19 are held in theirI central positions on the rods by collars 50 suitably secured to the rods.

The nature and scopo of the invention having been indicated and its preferred embodiment having been speciiically described, what is claimed as new, is:-

l. Apparatus for piling material, comprising an inclined chute having iixed and tiltable floor sections in alternating relation, said tiltable sections being adapted for conducting material from lixed section to fixed section, and said tiltable sections being free to be tilted automatically to discharge positions by rising of the piled material in the chute onto the lower portions of the tiltable sections.

2. Apparatus for piling material, com prising an incline-d chute having a floor composed in part of tiltable floor sections adapted forconducting material, said tiltable sections having hinges so located that the sections tend to gravitate to closed positions each with its upper end on top of the lower end of the section next abo-ve it, and said upper ends being free to be tilted upward automatically by rise of the piled material in the chute progressively onto the lower portions of the tiltable sections.

3. Apparatus for piling material, comprising an inclined chute having tiltable floor sections for conducting material, said sections being tiltable on fulcra intermediate their ends so located that the sections tend to gravitate to closed positions, and each section being free to be tilted automatically to a discharge position by material rising in the chute onto the upper side oi' the portion below its fulcrum and to be tilted towardclosed position by material rising beneath the chute into contact with the under side of said portion.

4. Apparatus for piling material, comprising an inclined chute having side walls, a series of sections in said chute each having side walls spaced substantial distances from the walls of the chute to permit excess material readily to fall therebetween, alternate sections being tiltably mounted on fulcra between their ends, and each said tiltable section gravitating into the general plane of the remaining sections with the lower ends of its side walls resting inside the side walls of the next adjacent section below it.

.5. Apparatus for piling materiahcomprising an inclined chute having a floor oompose-d of alternate xed and pivotally mounted Hoor sections including a transverse pivot for each of said latter sections positioned intermediate the ends thereof and arranged to cause the upper end of a pivoted section normally to engage the upper side of the iixed section next above it and its lower end to engage the under side of the fixed section next below it, whereby a pivoted section may tilt in a manner to permit discharge of material beneath it through the floor opening in the chute floor thus formed above it.

6. Apparatus for piling material, comprising an inclined chute formed of a series of alternate fixed and tiltable floor sections, said tiltable sections being hinged on fulcra mounted. on the chute. but adjustable beneath said tiltable sections to shift the center of gravity thereof longitudinally.

7. Apparatus for piling material, comprising an inclined chute having tiltable sections the longitudinal position of which in the chute is unalterable, and pivot rods for said sections adjustably mounted to vary their position lengthwise of the tiltable sections.

8. Apparatus for piling materials, comprising an inclined chute having side members, a series of tiltable sections mounted on pivot rods, the ends of which extend into longitudinal slots formed in said side members, and means for securing said rods in diiierent positions along said slots relative to said sections.

9. Apparat-us for piling material, comprising an inclined chute formed of a series of troughs arranged end to end, alternate troughs being pivotally mounted and freely tiltable into open position to act successively as discharge gates upon the gradual rise of material in the chute onto the lower portions thereof.

10. Apparatus for piling materiah comprising an inclined chute having a plurality of floor sections tor conducting material, each section being tiltable on al transverse fulcrum, so locatedthat its portion above the ulcrum is heavier causing the section normally to gravitate to a closed position, and mounted to be tree to tilt to open position when its balance is disturbed by overweighting the lower portion of the section as by the rise of material in the chute onto said portion.

HAROLD n. Barron. 

